I've been cruising these boards a few weeks now, and now get to post.

I just bought a 1971 Duster from my uncle. It sat in his sheep barn for years with no usage, and after a little convincing, he decided he'd sell it to me. Over the last few years, this barn has started falling down, and by sheer luck avoided this Duster. Recently, a nasty snow storm forced the roof over the car to crack. I'm not kidding when I say the car would not have survived the next strong breeze. I spent all afternoon digging this thing out of the five feet of snow, and loading it on a trailer. Finally, it's mine.

The car is a 71 Duster in the groovy yellow with black stripe. There is a little bit of body damage where the original owner (who gave it to my uncle) slid into a snow drift on the back end, and the grill is a little busted, but there isn't a spot of rust on the car, the interior is clean as heck, and the kicker: 38,000 ORIGINAL MILES! That makes me pretty damn happy.

The battery was dead, and apparently there's a little gas problem, but everything looks okay under the hood. I don't actually know which slant this has, the 198 or 225. Any indicators you folks know? It's not on the air cleaner.

Sorry, no pictures, but I just wanted to say howdy to the Slant 6 family. I also wanted a sanity check. I'm not crazy for spending money on some old car, right? I love working on older cars (high school car was a 1954 International pickup, and I sure didn't go to HS THAT long ago), so I really think I'll dig this project.

Welcome on board.

We can tell what engine was originally installed if you'll supply the VIN.

First stop: this post.

I lived in Denver-Metro for 22 years or so. Miss it!

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Yay for months between posting updates. Thanks grad school, you rock!

Fuel pump was bad on the little six (225, by the way). I ordered a new one for about $45. Had to have it freighted to CO, since apparently they are more rare than living Civil War veterans. Putting this thing in was a pain in my hand. The coil had some ludicrously sharp piece of metal that buggered up my hand. It didn't hurt, but I look like a leper now.

Fuel pump fixed the problem. I actually got to drive my new toy up and down the road. Carb is leaking a bit, so I'll probably order a rebuilt one through Summit. Anyone have any experience with those? Also, the muffler is rotted off, so it sounds like a stock car now.

One thing that struck me is that it smells like poop. Literally. The barn it was parked in was next to cow pens for all these years, so it's blown full of cow poo particles. Boy, that smells good. When it fired up for the first time and started burning some off, it smelled like I'd lit a cow on fire. The inside really reeks. I think the fiance and I will shampoo and Febreeze the crap (literally) out of it soon.

I took pictures on a non-digital camera, so I'll be posting those here in a bit. It still needs cleaned, very badly. At least it moves under it's own power. That's always exciting.

Let me be the first to tell you what you'll hear many times as you hang around this board. Avoid buying rebuilt anything; they are more trouble than they are worth. If you don't feel comfortable doing the work yourself send or take the card to a competent carburetor shop and have it carefully and properly rebuilt by skilled professionals. I'm sure someone can make a recommendation. Welcome, and enjoy the ride! I lived in the Denver area ( Lakewood, Littleton ) for 11 years.

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David Kight
'62 Valiant Signet, White
'98 Dodge Dakota
'06 Jeep Liberty

Growing older is unavoidable but growing up is strictly optional.

Yeah, definitely don't get a "rebuilt"/"remanufactured" carburetor (or any other part) from a parts store, either the walk-in kind or the internet/mail-order type; you'll just be wasting money on trash that won't work well for you. See here. Where in Denver are you? And, where did you go shopping for your fuel pump?! Any auto parts store in Denver-Metro should've been able to have one in your hands within 2 days. For carburetor rebuild work (i.e., a skilled bench rebuild by a knowledgeable craftsman, compared to the abusive and halfassed "remanufacturing" process perpetrated on what you buy from parts stores), you might try Don's Carburetor in Wheat Ridge, (303) 237-3006. You should definitely get yourself aquainted with Svigel's New and Used Auto Parts on Santa Fe Dr., (303) 781-7859. The NAPA several miles Southeast on Broadway (303) 795-5552 is fairly good, there's a large Pep Boys at 7205 E. Evans Ave (303) 759-9300, and there used to be a good Big-A(?) on Warren just off Colorado Blvd and one on Birch just off Evans right across from the I-25 onramp. If you want your windows tinted, there used to be a very good place just West of Broadway on Belleview, behind the Meineke, but I don't know if it's still there. I used to have a good rotating-electrics builder, but they seem to have closed up shop. Have you got your textbooks.
yet?

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Jeeze, you guys are just walking encyclopedias, aren't you? I'm impressed. Thanks for all the information. I just spotted rebuilts on Summit, among other places, and didn't think they'd be garbage. Thanks for saving me $140!

I've rebuilt single barrel carbs before for old trucks, and they still run, so I might try rebuilding one myself, though I might save that until I have a spare one on hand. Would this be a poor idea? I just PMed dakight, but I'll ask: Where do you get good rebuild kits?

I'm actually north of Denver a ways in a college town, and store the car quite a ways from either, hence my "weekend warrior" work on the car. That makes things difficult, for sure. I ordered the pump from NAPA here, and their computer told them there were only a handful in the country. Was I fed a load of BS? Anyhoo, I had it in hand in 2 days.

Thanks for the info, folks.

The last fuel pump I put on my Dart cost me $17....In stock. It was a rebuilt Carter pump. The pumps are easy to replace so I didn't really care if it was a rebuild.. Also picked up a spare water pump, rebuilt with chrysler stampings for $11.

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Ft. Collins?

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

You got it. Getting my masters and PhD up here.

What field?

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Physics. Doesn't leave a whole lot of time to work on Dusters, unfortunately.

Pictures coming soon, I swear!